Many outdoor barbecues operate from portable gas tanks which may contain liquid butane or other types of liquid natural gas under pressure. It is, of course, desirable that there be provided some type of fuel gauge or indicator which will advise a user of the amount of gas remaining in the tank so that the tank can be changed prior to running out completely.
One means for providing an indication of the amount of gas or liquid level in the gas tank is to simply weigh the tank. When the tank is fully charged, it will be at its heaviest and as the gas is used up, it will become progressively lighter.
In order to provide a continuous indication, it has been proposed to support an edge of the tank with a spring arrangement so that the heavier the tank, the more compressed will become the spring. Through an appropriate linkage mechanism, a rotating dial can be actuated depending upon the amount of compression of the spring. An example of such type of gauge or liquid level indicator for gas tanks is shown in Italian Letters Pat. No. 491,950. While the structure illustrated in this patent will provide an indication of the liquid fuel level in the tank, because of the rotating dial and other interconnecting links, the same is somewhat awkward to use with an outdoor barbecue wherein the gas tank for the barbecue is normally supported on the pedestal frame so as to be moved around with the barbecue itself.